What can I say except that this month was SO tough academically, and I really struggled to do get any reading in between all my exams and extracurricular events. But I’m so excited to hopefully make up for this next month because I have missed reading so so so much.

Stats:

• Read: 1 book
• One four star read

The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell

I’ve been craving a good Regency romance, and this book was a unique twist on the genre: a literal Jane Austen retelling but with some magical realism thrown in by transporting modern characters into Austen-era England. The author is clearly well-read on Austen, including both her books and the time period she lived in. I appreciated how she seamlessly melded modern with historical culture. The plot of the story was very Austen-esque, with a large cast of meddling side characters and the whole going-to-each-other’s-houses-and-having-balls thing. The enemies-to-lovers romance was also nice, but definitely not the strongest or most interesting aspect for me. Rating: 4 stars